A former Supreme Court justice, William Atuguba, has averred that the decline of the public’s trust in the judiciary is seeing ascendancy due to the mistrust orchestrated in the system by the constitution.
According to him, even though the judiciary is supposed to be independent, the composition of the Judicial Council which determines who ascends the bench is infiltrated with members from the Executive compromising its independence.
Per his contention, until the appointment process is devoid of members from the Executive, trust issues will always linger in the judiciary’s role.
“In the separation of powers, the executive should be separate from the judicial arm so that they are independent and can do their work freely. Then you bring them there to police their appointments from the beginning? Is that how to achieve an independent judiciary?” he quizzed.
He says the current provision makes it difficult for the members to stand against imposition of members by the government.
“You want the judiciary to be independent, the Constitution states so. Nonetheless, on the Judicial Council, which recommends Justices to be appointed, you have the Attorney General and four nominees of the president sitting there taking part in the proceedings as to who should be presented for appointment to the Supreme Court.
“Where is the independence of the judiciary? We have the executive so strongly present there?” Justice Atuguba quizzed.
He went on to say that what the president wants is what would be done if things are allowed to remain the way they are.
“The present structure of the Judicial Council, has the Chief Justice as Chairman, a representative of the Supreme Court and the various other lower courts (Appeals Court, High Court, etc), the Judge Advocate General from the Armed Forces, the director of the Police Legal Directorate, editor of the law reports, two members of the bar association, and then the four presidential nominees and the Attorney General.
“Now, if you look at it realistically, who can stand up to a Chief Justice who wants to do the president’s bidding? I mean, just for the sake of argument, who can stand up? Is it the Attorney General and the four nominees? They will certainly try to push for the president, isn’t it?” he quizzed during his contribution on Accra-based JoyNews.
He also expressed the potential sway of other Council members, including those from the Ghana Bar Association, who might align their decisions with personal inclinations.
“Then the representative of the Supreme Court, it also depends on how he stands in relation to the Chief Justice. If he’s not independent-minded, he may always like to side with the Chief Justice,” he said adding that other representatives of the courts may also side with the Chief Justice too.
